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L Pads Setting

I tried the L PADS at neutral position and find that there is sibilence in the highs for CD replay.

I read somewhere before that old JBL speakers were made in the heyday of vinyl and tapes and were thus made to sound good with those sources. But with the advent of digital technology, the highs of CDs could be too much for the old JBL mid and tweeters.

I agree with Giskard garbage in garbage out. That said I have found the 0 setting on L100's and L65A to be hot. By hot I mean the upper treble ranges are up above midrange when viewed with an RTA. That will certainly make matters worse with poorly recorded material. So I think its a combination of how some of the vintage systems were voiced and lousy recordings. Another possibility is working the pots through there whole range. Sometimes they can get noisey and this seems to smooth things out a bit.

Re: Re: L Pads Setting

Originally posted by Giskard [i]The JBL's sound only as good as the source. They aren't going to lie to you. Good source = good sound, garbage in = garbage out.

And, this affect increases as you move-up the JBL food chain. If you're able to enter the realm of the large-format 4-way Studio Monitor cabinets, you may find much of your CD library barely listenable...

Re: Re: Re: L Pads Setting

Originally posted by boputnam
And, this affect increases as you move-up the JBL food chain. If you're able to enter the realm of the large-format 4-way Studio Monitor cabinets, you may find much of your CD library barely listenable...

See.... another good reason to buy Bose speakers. They won't show the flaws in all of those CDs.

I'll admit, that some of the material I felt less listenable, became MUCH more listenable after replacing the JBL 5234A active crossover with the Ashly XR1001. The upper ranges of the 4345's are notably smoother, and more crisp at the same time - the horn is less horny...

Ian attributed this to better "behaviour" of the harmonics to the crossover frequency (my pedestrian paraphrasing...). I'm not knowledgable enough on networks to better explain nor understand why/how, but my ears know plenty, and they're very pleased.

I just recently received the Tommy remaster having recently read a lengthy interview with Pete Townsend in UNCUT magazine which included some comments about the process. I admit to a heavy bias in favor of the Who so no doubt I hold the album in due esteem. I have not listened to any of the album, save excerpts on the radio on occasions, for at least 25 years. So it was both enjoyable to revisit the songs as well as try a digital version. I agree with Rob’s assessment on this CD. I was truly surprised at the nuances never noticed (heard?) before. The production is better than I ever realized especially when you consider that the bank intentionally limited instruments and overdubs used. The sound is open with none of the hash typical of moving old analog recordings to digital. The dynamics are much improved. If you can believe one story related in the insert, the original master was destroyed. This rework was from a first-generation copy.

If you enjoy the band and the music, this CD is worthy. Bought this with the Derek and the Dominos 20th Anniversary Edition of Layla. Includes out-takes and jam sessions, so more to like if you like the band enough to cover the $45 cost for the package.

I have both Steely Dan latest albums, I must say if I ever wanted to sell my 4333As, I will use them as demo, they sound awesome on the JBLs. This could be due to the mix, on other systems, the highs are less pronounced.

I have Tommy on vinyl so I'll give that a miss for now. I also JBL does choral extremely well. I bought some Proprius CDs and believe it or not, I can pick out each voice in the choir, remarkable.

Now I have the mid and hi L Pads turned to -3 position and that seems to tame the highs of CDs for now. It also allow me to crank a bit louder.

Interesting thread. I have found one 80's cd that sounds great on my JBL's. Its a Woodie Guthrie tribute cd. A track I particularly like is I ain't got no home by Bruce Springsteen...fantastic. I did notice that once I entered JBL horn realm that alot of my cd's just sounded horrible, and I think I will eventually eq the room to try and smooth things out. My faves right now...